


The Adhesive Properties of Dragon Scales

by sassycatpants



Category: Transformers - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe, Family Fluff, Gen, M/M, Mythical Beings & Creatures
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-23
Updated: 2018-02-20
Packaged: 2018-09-19 10:38:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 1,636
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9436529
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sassycatpants/pseuds/sassycatpants
Summary: The egg is an unexpected find, cold and nearly lifeless in the undergrowth when Ratchet stumbles across it.In which Ratchet is a griffon, Drift is not and life just happens.





	1. 67. Discovery

**Author's Note:**

> Important notes:  
> 100 themes prompt list to write these  
> set in a mythical creatures AU where Ratchet is a grumpy old griffon who found and raised a ~~(seeker OC)~~ dragon named Sparkplug from an egg, and Drift is a Kirin/Qilin.  
>  this whole verse sort of happened during a conversation in an art livestream with two rp partners and i promised to write dumb stuff set in it.  
> sporadic updates as i fulfill the prompt list
> 
> less important notes:  
> hoofdad drift. that is all.

The egg is an unexpected find, cold and nearly lifeless in the undergrowth when Ratchet stumbles across it. But there _is_  life still inside it, so he gathers the tiny thing close to his chest and cuts his hunting short.

* * *

The egg had been closer to hatching when it had gone cold than he’d expected; it takes only a few days of pressing it close to himself, warming it with his own body and turning the shell gently to keep the life inside from getting too cold on any one side before it breaks open and spills its contents.

A dragon.

Ratchet feels a flash of surprise for only a second -- he’d thought perhaps a bird, or maybe even another griffon, but no he was the only one of his species in this land -- before he muffles it and leans his head down to study the dragon amidst the shattered egg shards.

A long body, coiled up and over herself (and he can already see how one day she will be so much larger than him, but in this moment she is so _tiny_ ), she fits within a single paw as she clumsily clambers onto him, seeking warmth.

A sleepy chirp as she settles in close, and Ratchet knows she’s _his_.


	2. 90. Fire

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _Accidentally burning down their nest, it turns out, is one of the hazards of living with a young dragon._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> These really are not in chronological order, but I am trying to at least keep them in a general _sort of_ general youngest-years-to-oldest order in terms of Ratchet raising Sparkplug and meeting Drift, etc.
> 
> Basically, while not always posted specifically in order of their happening, there is an underlying chronological storyline and prompts can generally be grouped together somewhere on that timeline based on the order they're posted in, if that makes any sense at all. I'll make a note if something happens before or after a specific event, though.

Accidentally burning down their nest, it turns out, is one of the hazards of living with a young dragon. Not that Ratchet is convinced it’s an _accident_  after the third time Sparkplug manages to do it, though the young dragon claims otherwise.

She’s never been overly fond of the grasses and twigs he’s woven together for them, complaining that they itch against her skin.

After the _fourth_  fire, Ratchet gives in and moves them into a nice cave instead. Sparkplug seems to approve the choice, and miraculously, his next nest -- built against the back wall of their snug little home, and made instead of shed feathers and soft down -- doesn’t go up in flames.

* * *

“Why don’t you breathe fire too?” Sparkplug wonders one day, curiosity dripping from every syllable as she trots along behind Ratchet through the forest. It’s a lesson day today, as well as a hunting day.

“Because I have some self restraint, you little hellion.”

The dragon scoffs, scrambling carefully over a log in her path to keep up with the much larger griffon who slows only slightly. When he comes to a stop a moment later she nearly runs into his hind leg and it’s only his soft hiss-click that keeps her from yelping in protest. Ratchet pulls her forward by the scruff silently, pointing out their prey with sharp talons and quiet words in her ears.

She’s long memorized these lessons, and it’s only a matter of practice and fine tuning by now; a gesture, and Sparkplug’s stalking silently through the brush into position, questions set aside in favor of the hunt.

Ratchet has no illusions that she’ll forget, though, no matter how much he wishes she would.


	3. 97. Lost

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _There is suddenly a very large griffon slamming into him._

“Hi! I’m Sparkplug!”

Drift makes a startled noise at the tiny voice by his hooves, looking down reflexively. The tiny dragon sitting there beams up at him and he leans down, coming nose to nose with her as she reaches herself up to place tiny claws on his snout and prop her own against his.

“Hi!” she repeats cheerfully.

“...Hello,” Drift finally replies, wary. What is a dragon hatchling doing here in the forest, all alone? There are no dragon enclaves nearby that he knows of, and no hatchling would wander this far alone even if there were.

That’s as far as he takes that thought because there is suddenly a very large griffon slamming into him from the side. The dragon makes a sound of surprise, and the last Drift sees of her, she’s being snatched up and carried off.

Dazed and confused, he wonders what the _hell_  just happened.


	4. 6. Pessimistic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _Ratchet only survives just to spite the world._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This takes place before _Lost_.

A lot of Ratchet's lessons, in Sparkplug's view, tend to end with the idea of  _the world is bad and we all die_. He isn't  _technically_ wrong, because everything dies eventually but she's pretty sure there's more to living than surviving for the sake of surviving.

She thinks Ratchet only survives just to spite the world.

Sometimes, she wonders who or what hurt Ratchet so badly; if she were older, she's certain, just a _little_ bit bigger, maybe she'd be strong enough to break down all the walls he's built between himself and everyone else. For now, she wriggles her way through all the cracks and keeps him company in their isolation and waits.

* * *

"Can we go visit the humans?"

"No."

"Why not?" It's a whine, even as the small dragon clambers her way up onto Ratchet's back, uncaring of claws that snag in feathers and fur. The griffon winces slightly but doesn't dislodge his passenger, choosing instead to simply divert his course to avoid the lower hanging branches of the trees around them and continue on. He can feel the tiny claws traveling up his back, until finally they settle just below his shoulder blades, under the wing joint as a tiny head tucks itself over his shoulder.

"Because humans are dangerous," Ratchet answers finally, long after the silence has grown comfortable. "They hunt things like us, and it's better not to get involved at all."

"What if it's a friendly human? Can we visit  _them_?"

" _No_. Friendly humans don't exist, and even if they did, it's just inviting trouble." Ratchet scowls to himself, thinking of  _well meaning humans_ and their attempts to  _help_. Thinks of  _poachers_ who take advantage of such naive kindness to find their prey and set their traps.

Tries not to think of Sparkplug, cold and lifeless in the hands of one of them.

"But --"

"No, and that's final. They're dangerous, and you'll be better off without ever meeting a human."

He hears the tiny huff, but the subject is dropped as they finally reach the river and his little hatchling becomes distracted by the idea of splashing in puddles and trying to catch tiny minnows by the shore. Sparkplug launches herself off his shoulders and he settles in to watch once she's thoroughly engaged in her play, suppressing memories and thoughts he doesn't want to think about.

(He can't protect her forever, Ratchet knows this. But he can teach her what he knows, and make sure her never ending curiosity doesn't get her into trouble she can't get herself out of later. If that means convincing her that all of humanity is evil, then he'll damn well do his best to make her believe it down to her very soul. This is one thing he won't let them take away from him like so many other things.)

 


	5. 57. Rock

"...What are you doing?"

"Playin'." Another rock tower falls as Sparkplug stomps her way through the tiny piles with a silly roar as Ratchet watches in bemusement. A tiny blast of fire sends another pile tumbling down and around her feet, and she plops herself down with a proud look as the last of them scatters in the space between them. And then she picks them up, piling them up once more into tiny towers.

"Playing," Ratchet repeats slowly, head tilting in confusion. It looks an awful lot like...

"Yup! It's a tiny village and I'm terrorizin' it 'cause I want their gold!"

Yeah, that is exactly what it looks like. He can't help the laughter, watching the small dragon continue her game of terrorizing an imaginary human village in pursuit of gold. Not that he knows where she learned what gold  _is_. Sparkplug makes a pleased, proud noise but doesn't stop her game; leaving her to it, Ratchet climbs to his feet and exits their cave. He'd seen some particularly shiny pebbles down by the riverbed recently, they would do.

The village needed gold to give her, after all. 


	6. 23. Warmth

There's an underlying sort of kindness to the forest, a sort of loving magic threading its way through the harshness of nature and life itself; it's built in smiles and forest games, in shared bounties and a willingness to help the newest inhabitants when they come seeking sanctuary. Sparkplug feels it like sun warmed water against her scales as she scampers through the forest unhindered each day.

It isn't until a human tricks his way into the forest, mind filled with greed and the gold that fairy dust will bring him, which suddenly feels so _cold_ and hostile that Sparkplug realizes the warmth she's always associated with home is actually the magic of the forest. 

She hides in their cave, wings over her head and shivering beneath Ratchet for days before the warmth leaks back in and he can lure her back into the sun,

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Magic forests sustained by the magical creatures they protect don't appreciate creatures with Evil Designs on their inhabitants, unfortunately.


	7. 85. Song

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _the world sings for her._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this has actually been sitting as an unposted chapter for like... ever? since before chapter 6, at least a year maybe? tbh but i forgot to actually ever post it so here you go. late, woops.

Sparkplug is a fan of music. She knows this, because the world sings for her. Ratchet doesn’t hear it, but she insists it’s there and she thinks that once, a long time ago, he could probably hear it too. It’s in the way he moves, gliding across their territory with a silent grace that matches the beat only she seems to hear, and the way his voice rises and falls in a rhythm he’s forgotten each night as she learns the lessons he teaches. The way he lifts his head into the wind when it blows, fur and feathers ruffling as she curls against him to wait out the rain and thunder.

Ratchet can’t hear the song anymore, but he did once and Sparkplug is determined to help him find it again.

(She met a strange deer in the forest once, years ago when she was very small; music dripped from him like dew from leaves, swirling around him like bees to honey. He, she is certain the way only the young can be, will bring the song of living back for Ratchet.)


End file.
